My hard drives connected to a Corsair RM1000x 3.1 keep powering down while I'm playing games, and they only return after restarting the computer. I read that some drives interpret the SATA power connector's 3.3V pins as a Power Disable (PWDIS) signal, so I was considering covering pins 1–3 with Kapton tape or using a Molex-to-SATA adapter. I removed the 3.3V wire from the SATA power connector, but at least one drive still shuts down. Is this likely related to PWDIS, and what would be the safest way to troubleshoot or fix it?
2 Answers
If removing the 3.3V wire produces the same behavior, this probably isn’t the PWDIS issue. Check the SATA power cable, connectors, and drive temperatures, and look at system and storage event logs for disk resets or power-loss errors. Also try powering the drives from a different modular SATA cable or a different PSU output, since a loose connector or failing cable can affect multiple drives.
Kapton tape over pins 1–3 is a reasonable way to disable PWDIS when that is actually the cause, but it won’t help if the drives are losing power for another reason. Be very careful with Molex-to-SATA adapters: cheaply made versions can overheat or fail, so replacing the cable or using a properly manufactured adapter is safer. Since your drives still shut down after removing 3.3V, I’d focus on the power path and the drives themselves rather than taping them.
That makes sense. I’ll test each drive with another SATA power cable and check the logs and temperatures before trying anything else.